Archeologist back home for Vikings’ last battle in Britain

Dr Jon Henderson journeyed back to his roots to present a BBC TV documentary, The Last Battle of the Vikings.

The Battle of Largs in 1263 marked the beginning of the end of Viking power in Scotland, where they had established the longest-lasting Norse presence in the British Isles.

Dr Henderson, from the Department of Archaeology and a member of the University’s Centre for the Study of the Viking Age, grew up near Largs in West Kilbride.

He said: “The Battle of Largs in 1263 was the last time Norse invaders fought on our soil — it was the final twist in a relationship that was centuries old. It may have marked the beginning of the end for Norse power in Scotland, but the Viking influence remained — part of a new nation, part of us.”

University’s top award for leading way in sustainability

The University has won one of the most prestigious awards in UK higher education — the Times Higher Education Award 2012 for Outstanding Contribution to Sustainable Development.

Judges praised the University for embedding sustainability in everything from designing new buildings to the way energy is generated and used on campus.

The University’s Carbon Management Plan saw more than £1.5m invested in 71 carbon reduction projects in its first year.

In 2012 Nottingham — ranked the most sustainable university in the world in the Greenmetric league table — achieved a reduction in its carbon emissions for a second successive year, despite growing student numbers and an increase in the number of buildings.

Locking up rival city gangs together ‘increased violence’

A youth offending facility has been criticised in a report for taking criminals from rival gangs in Leicester and Nottingham.

The research, led by Dr Richard Simper of Nottingham University Business School, said Glen Parva Young Offenders Institution’s policy of taking criminals from both cities led to an increase in violence and inter-gang tension.

Dr Simper, an Associate Professor in Financial Economics, says that rival young offenders should be separated, and called for a new facility to be built in the East Midlands.

The study, the Economic Efficiency of Rehabilitative Management in Young Offenders Institutions in England and Wales, was published in the journal Socio-Economic Planning Services.

Dr Simper also dismissed plans to increase the size of Glen Parva, from 800 inmates to 1,160. The “smallest YOIs were the most efficient in the management of rehabilitation of young offenders,” he said.

Low-salt ingredient wins international accolade

A low-salt ingredient, developed by a University subsidiary company and marketed by Tate & Lyle, has won a prestigious international award.

Tate & Lyle’s SODA-LO™ Salt Microspheres won the Most Innovative Health Ingredient of the Year at the NuW Excellence Awards 2012.

SODA-LO™ was developed by the University’s Eminate business, which works alongside the Technology Transfer Office to develop research from University academics for commercially viable products and services.

The SODA-LO™ Salt Microspheres have been created using a technology that turns standard salt crystals into free-flowing crystalline microspheres. These smaller, lower-density crystals efficiently deliver salty taste by maximising surface area relative to volume, this enables salt content to be reduced in food without loss of flavour or structure.